Apart from these, I presume?

1. A rising National Minimum Wage - the annual uprating benefits around 1 million people a year.
2. The shortest waiting times since NHS records began.
3. Three million more operations carried out each year than in 1997, with more than double the number of heart operations.
4. Over 44,000 more doctors.
5. Over 89,000 more nurses
6. Over three quarters of GP practices now offer extended opening hours for at least one evening or weekend session a week.
7. All prescriptions are now free for people being treated for cancer or the effects of cancer, and teenage girls are offered a vaccination against cervical cancer.
8. The NHS can now guarantee that you will see a cancer specialist within two weeks if your GP suspects you may have cancer. Whatever your condition, you will not have to wait more than 18 weeks from GP referral to the start of hospital treatment – and most waits are much shorter than this.
9. Over a 100 new hospital building schemes completed.
10. 12 million pensioners benefiting from increased Winter Fuel Payments.
11. 900,000 pensioners lifted out of poverty.
12. 500,000 children lifted out of relative poverty and measures introduced in and since Budget 2007 are expected to lift another 550,000 children out of poverty.
13. Free TV licences for over-75s.
14. The New Deal has helped over 2.2 million people into work.
15. Over 4.8 million Child Trust Funds have been started.
16. 3,500 Sure Start Children’s Centres opened, reaching over 2.8 million children and their families.
17. Over 42,000 more teachers and 212,000 more support staff, including 123,000 more teaching assistants, than in 1997.
18. There have been around 3,700 rebuilt and significantly refurbished schools; including new and improved classrooms, laboratories and kitchens.
19. A free nursery place for every 3 and 4 year old - extended to 15 hours per week this year and we are beginning to provide 10 hours a week to the most deprived 2 year olds.
20. Doubled the number of registered childcare places to more than 1.3 million, one for every four children under eight years old.
21. More young people attending university than ever before.
22. More than doubled the number of apprenticeships starts, with figures for 2008/9 showing 240,000 started an apprenticeship this year compared to 75,000 in 1997.
23. In 1997 more than half of all schools saw less that 30 per cent of their pupils fail to get 5 good GCSEs including English and Maths. Now only 247 schools – less than one in twelve - fail this benchmark and we are guaranteeing that no school should fail this mark after 2011.
24. We have increased school funding to support the delivery of higher standards. Between 1997-98 and 2009-10, total funding per pupil has more than doubled from £3,030 in 1997-98 to £6,350 in 2009-10 in real terms, an increase of 110 per cent.
25. The Northern Ireland peace process.
26. The car scrappage scheme, where owners scrapping an old car receive £2,000 off the price of a new car, has assisted with over 380,000 orders being placed, keeping the automotive industry and its supply chain on its feet
27. The UK is now smokefree, with no smoking in most enclosed public places.
28. The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions are now 21 per cent below 1990 levels, beating our Kyoto target.
29. Over £20 billion invested in bringing social housing to decent standards.
30. Rough sleeping has dropped by two thirds and homelessness is at its lowest level since the early 1980s.
31. Free off-peak travel on buses anywhere in England for over-60s and disabled people.
32. Since 1997 overall crime is down 36 per cent; domestic burglary is down 54 per cent; vehicle related crime is down 57 per cent; and violent crime is down 41 per cent.
33. A new flexible Australian-style points-based system for immigration to ensure only those economic migrants who have the skills our economy needs can come to work in the UK.
34. Police numbers up by almost 17,000 since 1997, alongside more than 16,000 Police Community Support Officers.
35. Every community now has its own dedicated neighbourhood police team, easily contactable by the people who live in that community and working with them to agree local priorities and deal with people’s concerns.
36. Equalised the age of consent and repealed Section 28.
37. Through the introduction of civil partnerships, Labour has for the first time given legal recognition to same-sex partners. Gay couples now have the same inheritance, pension and next-of-kin rights as married couples.
38. Tripled Britain’s overseas aid budget. UK aid helps lift an estimated 3 million people out of poverty every year.
39. Cancelled up to 100 per cent of debt for the world’s poorest countries.
40. Britain now has more offshore wind capacity than any country in the world. Wind last year provided enough electricity to power 2 million homes.
41. Embarked on the biggest program of council house building for twenty years.
42. Launched the Swimming Challenge Fund to support free swimming for over 60s and under 16s.
43. Banned fox hunting.
44. Led the campaign to win the 2012 Olympics for London. Today the programme remains on time and on budget with over 40 per cent of the construction programme completed and all major venues under construction.
45. Free admission to our national museums and galleries.
46. Devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, an elected Mayor and Assembly for London and directly-elected mayors for those cities that want them.
47. Created a new right of pedestrian access to the English coast, so that every family has the opportunity to enjoy the length and breadth of our coastline.
48. In Europe we signed the Social Chapter and introduced measures including: four weeks’ paid holiday; a right to parental leave; extended maternity leave; a new right to request flexible working; and the same protection for part-time workers as full-time workers.
49. Led efforts to agree a new international convention banning all cluster munitions and made Britain one of the first countries to ratify a convention to ban anti-personnel landmines
50. Introduced the first ever British Armed Forces and Veterans Day to honour the achievements of our Armed Forces – both past and present.

You typed that fast  You were bizzy blizzy 

You could probably say the same for the Tories...

is Ed Milibandito ever going to say anything other than "I tell you this"  it's all he said yesterday but he didn't really say a lot if that makes sense 

I'll get my coat 

I did, I was!

Now, I need to go through them all and make sure I like them.

Yes. I meant apart from them. 

I should have been clearer.
When I was typing the Opening Post I really had in mind the choice of leadership, and the general style of leadership, and the public face.
Stupid of me not to be more specific. Apologies.
I also say it with the benefit of hindsight.

David is much better looking than Ed....BIG MISTAKE!



*Goes to have another wet dream over David*

They're all the same.

Jam the morra!

Jesus told me he was Very good in Everybody Loves Raymond He like won an Emmy 

You are Hilary Clinton and I claim my £5!

Ed Milliband got my vote, so I'm happy with the outcome I think he will take the party forward with his 'new generation labour' and away from the spectre of Brown and Blair who became v unpopular with the electorate. I have high hopes for Ed.....Not sure about his big brother's decision today, think it may well be sour grapes on his part.

Blizzie you forgot to mention the free bus passes when you are  60  although I have been told by my brother in law in October they will be raising the age to 65  I still have not applied for mine if it is true I wont get it,makes me think what will be next for the pensioners I thought they were going to leave them alone in these cuts 

Marg, it's there: no. 31.....but like you say, probably not for long!

No 31, Marge.

I hope the ConDems rethink their massacre cuts.

If she dont keep her dirty paws to herself shes gonna feel the back of my hand!

Sorry Blizzie that was an impressive list trust me to not see it, I hope you are right it  wont be long until we find out.. though I wont hold my breath

Hi Supes  my mistake 

As a party they appear quite beholden to other forces, and I'm sure Mr Murdoch and the evil captains of commerce know who I'm talking about.

Very impressive list Blizzie, now i am sure Mr Cameron will go thru it and destroy them one by one ............

Thanks for the list Blizzie, you just reminded me why I voted Labour.

Okay! so not following all this political stuff...is Cameron no longer the labour leader/prime minister ??

Do you live in a cave  David Cameron is a Tory and yes he is PM

Pengy (Victor was robbed) I liked almost all of it, I can honestly say there wasn't any observations on Labour achievements or failures that I didn't agree with. 

Of course he was playing to the gallery but I liked his comment on Iraq and also his comments on the phoney and negative message that the coalition are spinning that reducing the deficit is an economic policy in its own right.

I don't rate him as an orator but great orators don't automatically make great leaders and hopefully he'll get more accustomed to public speaking and loosen up a bit. 

BTW, Blizzie, a good list (I assumed culled from the Labour party website  ) but anyway, a good reminder of lots of the little things and lots of the not so little things Labour did to make the country better in these days when all you hear from the Tories and their puppets is how Labour is apparently responsible for global recession.

And yet more delayed discharges.
Why?
Because they have created so many tiers of management, so much red tape and so little money for social care that there is nowhere for older frail people to be discharged to.

 And as for 89,0000 nurses - well not many of them are ward nurses.They are specialists, working in NHS direct... just about anywhere but direct patient care,

Having said all that - I can say that I had far more faith with the NHS being in labour's hands than I do in it being in the conlib gang. BUT if they get rid of all the quangos that will be good.

Isadora, why will it be good if they get rid of all the quangos?

Getting rid of all the quangos would be a massive disaster.

I've had this debate before and a lot of people don't have much idea what quangos do, who they're run by and what their purpose is.  There is a common idea that they are just jobs for the boys clubs and a needless waste of public money. 

Most of the functions performed by quangos have to be performed as they are a feature of the running of government.  The quangos devolve power and decision making away from political meddling to people in the field who know what they're talking about.  That's what they should be doing, anyway!

Oh yeah! ...see i forgets who said wot to who & wot colour they are! ..Sorry!
They all sound the same to me!

I deal with at least 3 quangos in my line of work and I can absolutely 100% assure you that the NHS would not miss them in the slightest and if anything would run more efficiently and patient care would be improved.

I can only judge on the ones that I know about Carnelian and whilst I agree that they are not jobs for the boys as such, I can say with clarity they are jobs for the people who are so far removed from the reality of the job that it makes it impossible to explain real world to them.

Do you say that because their function is just not needed or is their function needed but they have become bogged down with procedural bureaucracy and other failings?  May I ask which three quangos they are?

I know this sounds like a cop out but can we continue this tomorrow cos actually I am enjoying the debate but really do not have the wherewithal to type loads.
The quangos I am talking about are around patient safety.

No probs Isadora

i would have preferred David Milliband and fear Labour will now be in opposition longer - Cameron must be laughing his head off

I actually agree with streamlining this sort of thing but Labour if they had remained in power ,would be doing it anyway

I seriously doubt that as they were the ones who put them in place to begin with...

Well if they'd chosen him it would have driven me further away from Labour. For me, choosing Ed was a move in the right direction.